This invention relates to support means for boats, or similar objects which are desirably positioned at various locations and supported above the ground or other place of storage.
Further, the contemplation hereof is that some substantial improvements are provided over the co-pending application of which this is a continuation-in-part, in that while there are certain common elements and arrangement of parts such as the brace parts of the support means which comprise support units, being located so as to make for assembly of a number of the units into a coordinated whole for supporting a boat or similar object, and yet definite advantages are derived from the construction hereof in relating to the problem of storage of units when they are not in use, which is an important factor in the businesses in which such units are associated and in which they are used.
In the instant case the support units are somewhat similar to the prior disclosed unit, but involve a base of a quite different shape and an arrangement of the respective upright parts so as to more economically provide a device which will find its use in the marketplace substantially enhanced because of the lesser cost thereof.
In the prior application, and a co-pending application Ser. No. 07/027,899, filed Mar. 19, 1987 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,642, related boat storage shipping system and support means are disclosed which are found in the same field of commerce as the instant invention, there being however several notable differences as will be understood from the description which is subsequently to be set forth, involving the ability to use the support units in related arrangements and store the same in the manner to take advantage of space and also the reduction in material required to manufacture the said same items all of which will be apparent hereinafter.
In the co-pending application Ser. No. 07/027,899, several patens were cited including that of Mears, 3,139,277, Ebsen, 4,155,667, and Price 4,468,150, all directed to related uses such as the instant invention and its merit, including tension elements which are arranged in different ways however and include substantially different forms of parts which are interconnected so as to provide a better arrangement and simpler concept than that previously disclosed and thus the said patents referred to are not really suggestive of the connectable positions provided by the instant application.
The U.S.S.R. patent 1,082,680 is not related to the instant concept nor in fact to those of the references set forth above.
While the overall concept of support units has been disclosed in the several applications referred to and is of course known in the art, there are certain aspects which can be improved upon and which have been improved upon by the instant disclosure as well as those which are realted hereto by common elements, the instant invention however being constructed differently from any of the prior art as far as is known and now to be described in general.
It will be apparent as the inventions are viewed along with one another that differences in shapes of parts and interconnecting aspects are improvements over what has been disclosed in the prior referred to application.